MNA � Iran�s FM Zarif said when the US and Russia have been unable to end the war in region, it is clear that following either of these two powers cannot solve the region�s problems.


Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif made the remarks at the Faculty of International Relations on Wednesday.

Here is an excerpt of Zarif�s key points in his address:

Currently, we are all faced with several challenges. Perhaps the most important of which is �change� and the "uncertainty and unpredictability of conditions". This is both a major challenge and a major opportunity in international relations.

We all had our intellectual frameworks set by this order: relations were mostly formed into factions of the East and the West blocs.

Now the game has changed and new actors have entered the scene. Who would have thought that we would be now in a situation where al-Qaeda and ISIL play such an important and crucial role in the international arena? There was a time when transnational and multinational companies and international organizations played a crucial role in the economic sphere. Now we are seeing non-state actors and activists playing a crucial role in the security domain that has been monopolized by governments.

Compliance does not mean surrendering; it means acting on the basis of a precise understanding of this development. I believe that conditions are ready for Iran to play an active part. Iran�s nature is to take all its power from within. What is our difference with Saudi Arabia or even Turkey? The major difference is that those countries rely on foreign powers for preserving their relations or even their existence. For 37 years, not only have we been independent from foreign support but we also managed to have security and progress in spite of them.

Another important fact about this process of change which I hope we can give sufficient consideration to, is that while major powers have influence, they do not have the control and the power to expose their wills on others.

When the US and Russia have been unable to end the war in region, it is clear that following either of these two powers cannot solve our problems.

When Mr. Trump became president of the US, some said he will be busy with domestic affairs and is reluctant to intervene in outside crises. An incident, that is the chemical situation in Syria, which if fabricated worsens the situation even further, changed the US agenda in 180 degrees. Now some say this event has been pre-determined, as they also say the September 11 attacks had been also pre-planned.